Optical projectors are used to project images onto surfaces for viewing by groups of people. Optical projectors include optical projector subsystems that include lenses, filters, polarizers, light sources, image forming devices and the like. Fixed front and rear electronic projectors are known for use in education, home theaters, and business meetings. Known light sources include black body lamps, gas discharge lamps, and solid state sources such as lasers, light emitting diodes (LED's) and organic light emitting diodes (OLED's). Head mounted displays are known for individual use. For mobile applications, there is a desire to miniaturize the volume and thickness of optical projectors, and make them power efficient while maintaining low power consumption, low cost and high image quality. However, the large dimensions and high power consumption of existing optical projection subsystems limit efforts to create a truly portable projector. Optical projection subsystems and methods of making subsystems are needed that provide both miniaturization and efficiency to project good quality images in a cost effective manner.